


Redeeming Rita

by standoutme



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Gen, Trans Female Character
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-15
Updated: 2020-01-15
Packaged: 2021-02-27 10:42:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 926
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22265812
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/standoutme/pseuds/standoutme
Summary: In which we get to see Rita's background as a teenager at Hogwarts, why she did write all those articles, and what finally makes her reconsider her actions. (Trans!Rita Skeeter, Trans!Ginny Weasley)
Relationships: Harry Potter/Ginny Weasley
Comments: 3
Kudos: 27





	Redeeming Rita

**Author's Note:**

> Rita is one of those characters who, in my opinion, wasn't treated fairly in canon. Reading the books, I get the impression that Rita is trans, but she is also one of those characters who is left without a background story to explain the behaviour that has most part of the fandom despise her. So I'm here to fix that.
> 
> That being said, huge thanks to my friend Jamie who patiently proofread this, and gave me invaluable perspective for this fic. Couldn't have done it without you!

There were a great many things that weren’t right, or _good,_ in the British wizarding community in the peaceful 1960’s. It was a conservative community; one of bigotry, chauvinism and exclusion. Hogwarts was no better. Sixteen-year-old Rita Skeeter couldn’t wait to be out of there next year. It had been a long six years, most of which she refused to bring back to mind. She had expected things to get easier, as that old troll Dippet had _finally_ approved her request to move into the girls’ dormitory, but she had been wrong. The boys were cruel, without a doubt, but none of them measured up to the vile monstrosity that was Bellatrix Black. The past few weeks had been a constant blur of _‘get out of our dorm, you sickening cross-dresser’_ , _‘I can’t believe that foolish headmaster charmed the stairs to let **him** up’_, _‘just wait until my parents hear about this’_ , and the occasional hex thrown at her for no apparent reason (other than the fact that they now had to share a dorm).

It would be a whole year of it before Bellatrix’s slander, rumours and schemes had pushed the blonde sixteen-year-old far past the breaking point. She couldn’t take another day of it; not another breakdown to Myrtle in the girl’s bathroom, not another failed attempt at a mature discussion with Bellatrix, and definitely not another public humiliation. As Rita found herself wondering what the damn point was, she also realized that she had absolutely nothing left to lose. And if there was one thing she was going to have while still at this damned school, it was revenge _._ Bellatrix Black had spent seven years bullying not only Rita, but countless other students. She deserved a taste of her own medicine. Perhaps that would finally silence her.

It wasn’t long before a rumour started spreading at Hogwarts, that Bellatrix Black was a blood traitor – and shagging a muggleborn at that. Now, Rita was well informed and knew very well that the younger sister Andromeda was in fact the one secretly involved with Ted Tonks; a fact that only made the lie more believable in the ignorant eyes of other students.

For the entirety of two weeks, the whispers in the great hall were about Ted’s secret glances over at the Slytherin Table, Bellatrix’s feigned hatred, and their alleged secret meetings past midnight. Nobody seemed to have the time, nor the interest, to whisper about Rita anymore. She was yesterday’s news to them. And that was how she intended to keep it.

\---

Forty years later, a fifty-seven-year-old woman with polished blonde hair sits by her dinner table, staring at the newspaper in front of her. She is esteemed now; a famous journalist who has reported on, and lived through, not one, but two great wizarding wars. Esteemed, famous and _despised._ The headline on the newspaper is bold, almost as if it’s seeking her out. Underneath is a photo of a beautiful young woman, smiling widely as she rocks a child on her hip.

_“POTTERS ADOPT AGAIN – HARPIES CHASER STRUGGLING WITH INFERTILITY?”_ – the headline reads.

Ginny’s words are still ringing in her ears, so loudly that it’s almost as though they are ringing through the entire apartment – like a stubborn echo.

“How dare you?! You of all people?! I never thought you’d sink this low. Coming after your own?! Shame on you. For years we’ve dealt with your gossip, but this? This is where I draw the line. Think about the kids, Rita. THE KIDS! We’ve both been there, haven’t we? With the… the dorms, and the slur. Is this the kind of future you want for them? Do you want them to think that their future is going to be dark? That they can’t even have kids without practically being outed in the newspaper? We’re supposed to make it better for them… not worse. Just because… you made it, doesn’t mean your fight is over.”

The grandfather clock ticks, over, and over, and over again. And the words keep ringing. “You fucking hypocrite.”

She sweeps the newspaper down onto the floor. The words keep ringing. “You disgust me.”

Tears are ruining her makeup, and the words keep ringing. “You could’ve done so much better.”

Rita isn’t sure how Ginny knew, because up until the moment the younger woman stormed through her front door a few hours ago, Rita had no idea what she had implied with her article. She had no idea what she had done to the poor girl. But she does now. She has disappointed her. She has disappointed _everyone._ Throughout the years, there had been so many articles; about the war, about who’s dating who… gossip mainly. And out of all those articles, not one had made a difference for girls like Ginny. For girls like herself. Rita realizes then, that she has disappointed herself, too. That little girl, forty years ago, who sat broken on a bathroom floor thinking that there was no meaning to life. She has been disappointing that girl every day since.

“It’s not too late,” she mumbles in realization, putting on her glasses over eyes smudged by mascara, and grabbing her quill with great habit. “It’s not too late.”

A few months later, that same dinner table is overflowed with parchment; articles published, articles about to be published, even letters to be sent to the ministry. Words that are going to make a difference.

_“GENDERED DORMS AT HOGWARTS – AN OBSOLETE CONCEPT?”_

_“HARPIES CHASER ADVOCATE TRANS INCLUSION IN QUIDDITCH”_

_"PROFESSOR SUSPENDED AFTER MISGENDERING PUPIL”_

_“Rita Skeeter: Her.”_


End file.
